Living in NYC and traveling whenever – and wherever – I can.

Project Runway: Season 10, Episode 8

Do you remember last week’s episode of Project Runway? It occurred so long ago (like, a whole week!); clearly, I am a little behind on my PR blogging. Nonetheless, I still have plenty of things to say about our favorite crazy design crew, so let’s get right down to it.

The Challenge: The designers split into teams of three and were tasked with creating a fall look, including outerwear. But wait…there was no budget for this challenge. Instead, the designers had to create “merchandise” (aka tacky t-shirts) to sell on the streets of New York in order to raise the money to buy their fabrics for the challenge. I have to say, I didn’t love this premise; just give the designers some cash money and set them loose in Mood. No need for them to be begging on the streets of New York!

My Top Three: Sonjia, Chris, & Gunnar

I’ll be honest: it was difficult for me to pick a winner this week; to me, all three collections were fairly drab. I mean, choose a better color palette, people! That said, Sonjia, Chris, and Gunnar’s two looks were my favorite, primarily because of the coats created by Sonjia and Christopher. Sonjia’s coat, I loved because I thought it had an interesting silhouette and I loved the ruffle details in front. Christopher’s camel jacket was less successful; I’m not sure how I feel about the different color sleeves. But I loved the coat’s overall shape, especially the cool collar.

My Bottom Three: Ven, Fabio, & Melissa

I was disappointed with this team because I have come to expect more from these three designers. To me, their collection looked very American Apparel: solid colored pieces made of sheer-ish, thin fabric that are inexplicably overpriced. In other words, not good at all. Overall, these pieces were very shapeless and the colors were a bit drab. The shirt on the right was especially egregious; why would you layer such a sheer fabric over dark pants? Horrendous.

Bitchy Lines of the Night:

“The judges picked this challenge to keep everyone? And this is what they keep? Gunnar?!” (You stay classy, Christopher).

“There are two reasons I don’t wanna work with him. Number one, I just don’t like Christopher. And secondly, I just can’t stand the sound of his voice.” (You stay classy, Gunnar).

“What did I do in my past life to deserve this?” (Dour Dmitry, upon finding out he was on a team with Elena).

“These are the most homeless looking t-shirts I’ve ever seen. Who is wearing these t-shirts?” (Sonjia, on the merchandise Elena, Dmitry, and Alicia created to sell on the street).

“Christopher’s rope thing looks like a Snuggie. An ugly ass Snuggie with a belt with no seaming. Oh god…it’s just one of the ugliest things I’ve ever seen in my life.” (I guess Elena has never seen any of her own space alien bubble coats before).

“God, I wish we had a horse tranquilizer.” (Christopher, after Elena got into a laughing fit. I love Christopher’s snide, sneaky comments).

“Something should’ve been in that crotch…that a girl doesn’t have.” (From Michael – of course – and delivered with a wicked smile. It’s a basic rule of PR that at least once per season, Michael will complain about the crotch of one look’s pants).

“And Elena, the Queen of Coats. Well, excuse me. That coat looked like it was sewn with her feet.” (Oh, Michael. Never change).

Random Bits + Pieces:

This week’s guest judge was Anna Sui. Am I the only one who thought she was terribly dull as a judge? She’s a great designer and, I’m sure, a lovely person, but she didn’t offer meaningful critiques to the designers.

I thought it said a lot about Christopher’s character (well, as much as a reality show can say about one’s character) when he told the judges Gunnar deserved the win. Even if he truly believed Gunnar deserved the win, I never thought Christopher would have said that aloud, given how much he appears to detest Gunnar.

Best sales pitch of the night: “Hey guys, we’re trying to sell these crappy t-shirts that we made in three hours.” You’re a natural saleswoman, Elena.

Best analogy of the night: Christopher comparing Dmitry and Elena to Boris and Natasha. So good.

The Results: Sonjia wins (I can totally get on board with that) and Alicia is out. Alicia has been something of a non-entity all season; she never showed much personality and her designs tended to be similarly lackluster. In the words of Madame Garcia, “At least Dmitry and Elena were fighting for attention. Alicia was fighting for nothing.” Alicia seems like a cool person, but this was so her time to head home.